The accelerating depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing cost of petrochemicals make the utilization of renewable raw materials a necessary step towards sustainable development. Current coating technologies consume numerous petroleum chemicals and much energy, while releasing hazardous volatile organic content, such as organic solvents, into the environment (Cheng et al., 2007 Prog Org Coat 59:284-290).
New, environmentally friendly coating technologies are being actively developed and applied by the coating industry, as driven by stricter environmental regulations. UV-curable coating technology, which produces solidified coatings within seconds upon irradiation with UV light, is a very promising “green” coating technology. This solventless energy-efficient technology offers high productivity and premium coating quality (Cheng et al., 2007 Prog Org Coat 59:284-290; Pelletier et al., 2006 J App Polym Sci 99:3218-3221; Shi et al., 1992 J Photopolym Sci Technol 5:453-459; Sangermano et al., 2005 J Appl Polym Sci 97:293-299; Huang et al., 2009 Polymer 50:4325-4333). However, coating systems based on petrochemical-derived acrylate oligomers and monomers are still the predominant sector of the UV-curable coating market.